How do you remove Leon Paul glue from a blade?

[Coach Pid]

It's some kind of epoxy, and does not react to acetone like super glue I usually use.

[K O'N]

It's some kind of epoxy, and does not react to acetone like super glue I usually use.

Heat gun, scraper and some patience.

K O'N

[SJCFU#2]

See Barry Paul's first post in this thread (which pretty much says the same thing as K'ON).

[monitorlizerd]

One must use the most powerful of the Armorer's Power Words, as well as Tincture of Effort.
(Mighty cussing and elbow grease)

[bobb121]

Use a bench grinder with a steel wire wheel.

[brtech]

I do hope the wire wheel is a joke. Not the best answer. Heat gun works fine. A torch (microtorch is best) is faster.

[erik_blank]

hummm... What about off gassing from the torch/heat gun? What are the byproducts from the glue? Are you using proper ventillation, or just putting your face right up to the blade to make sure that the grove is getting cleaned out??

[Sejanus]

When I used a heat gun just a small application of heat seemed to do a whole lot of work. The stuff scrapped off in big long pieces for the most part. You don't have to 'burn it off' and get a bunch of fumes...

[K O'N]

My book on composite construction says to use a 200 degree (F) heat gun and to provide ventilation to remove epoxy. I usually take it outside if possible. I agree a micro torch is good, I use a paint stripping heat gun that I happened to have and which said "200 degrees" on the side. I've used it for large expanses of epoxy and glass cloth on boats, taking the epoxy off a blade is easy. You do have to fiddle a bit to get all of it out of the groove at the end.

K O'N

[Purple Fencer]

I do hope the wire wheel is a joke. Not the best answer. Heat gun works fine. A torch (microtorch is best) is faster.

I dunno....I had to do a quick rewire on an LP today and used a wire brush wheel to get off all the glue stuck to the sides (resulted in a touch on the weapon...big glue blop. NOT my work....even on my worst day, I don't do that!).

The glue was REALLY rubbery,and I was able to peel a lot of it back....reminded me of rubber cement.

The job destroyed my wire wheel, but I got the blade clean, diamond-wheeled the rest of it clean, and got the rewire done.

[Brick]

If you have time on your hands and lack fancy tools, you can always use a hair dryer for the epoxy in the tip, and then use sandpaper along with a good utility knife for the blade. May take a while, but the results are excellent and you don't risk a blade's temper, except for the small possibility of the tip, which is re-enforced because of the tip itself anyway.

[jjefferies]

I do hope the wire wheel is a joke. Not the best answer. Heat gun works fine. A torch (microtorch is best) is faster.

I'm doing one now. The heat gun/microtorch concerns me regarding affecting the blade's temper. The wire wheel does not appear to heat the whole blade. But the LP epoxy is proving a problem as it seems to not completely come off. After prolonged acetone bath, scraping etc I could see what I believe is the LP epoxy was not coming clear and I tried a heat gun. Same problem there as there seems to be a residual material left behind. I've gotten it as clean as it will come and will try CA to put in a new wire. I'm not at all in favor of glues which cannot be completely removed. Also my customer is complaining about the LP tips having problems separating. Not sure what that's about though it appears he's gotten a fair amount of use out of the non-FIE blade w LP tip combo.

[Alex_Paul]

The best method is not to use any acetone, thinners or any other solvent at all. As soon as you do you end up with a sticky mess that is a nightmare to properly remove.

A heat gun is by far the best thing to use, it can be done with a gas powered torch on very low power. You can peel the whole lot off in one easy go attached to the wire. All you need to do is grab the end of the wire at the tang end with pliars and then gently pull it away from the blade while warming the blade with the gin. You work your way along towards the tip and as the resin warms up it melts and comes off completely cleanly completely attached to the wire. You shouldn't need to scrape at all for foil and very little for epee either.

It is really important that you use the heat gun first and not acetone first otherwise I do agree that it is difficult to remove.

Next time our guy here is removing wires I will film it and add it to our you tube channel so that you can see the proper tecnique and how easiy it is to do when you know how.

We appreciate that there are other glues that are easier to remve but CA for example is a lot less durable and long lasting than epoxy as it is not flexible. We believe that even though it is harder to get off the two part epoxy is better in the long run as it lasts so much longer than other glues before you need to rewire.

[SJCFU#2]

Also my customer is complaining about the LP tips having problems separating. Not sure what that's about though it appears he's gotten a fair amount of use out of the non-FIE blade w LP tip combo.

If your customer is complaining about the standard LP foil tip than that is normal - the nylon sleeve that fits around the lower portion of the solid metal tip is not attached to the tip and can readily be replaced (it can even be purchased separately).

From what I've seen it doesn't seem to effect the ability of the foil point to do its job, although this loose fit may contribute to the need to regularly take apart and clean LP foil points. However if it really bothers your customer then I've heard of people fixing the nylon sleeve in place with a drop of glue.

[brtech]

We have quite a lot of experience with using torches. Swordmasters uses them at their repair booth, and has for several years, for example.

You don't need to heat the blade up to red hot. The torch works very fast (like 30 seconds or so to get the wire out of the entire blade). It's also small, portable, and takes no power. I use it whenever I travel now. Needs to be emptied for air travel, but buying butane locally is easy. Takes less room, and doesn't need a power outlet. With my battery powered Dremel, torch and Portasol butane soldering iron, I have cut the cord - no power required other than the charger for the Dremel, and I can rewire a half dozen blades with one charge. Takes up very little space, works fast, and I can rewire a blade anywhere. I have a complete toolkit in a camera bag now (and a small one at that).

[Purple Fencer]

We have quite a lot of experience with using torches. Swordmasters uses them at their repair booth, and has for several years, for example.

I'll definitely need to stop by the booth at SN and watch you or Scott use the torch...not QUITE willing to try it on my own without seeing it in action first.

That's presuming, of course, that I don't get on the armory crew in the first place (I've emailed Ted Li....he says I'm at the top of the list is he gets an opening)